Railway signal-fuse.



PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

F. BUTCHER.

RAILWAY SIGNAL FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1905.

S1 wanton atbo'anw UNTTED STATES FRANK BUTCHER, or vERsAILIiEs:

- CAN FOG SIGNAL COMPANY,

PATENT caries.

RAELWAY SiGNAL-FUSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1907.

Application filed June 17, 1905. Serial bio-265,798.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK DUroHER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Verner which is sailles, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signal- Fuses, of which. the following is a specifical tion, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. I

This invention relates to improvements in railroad signal fuses, and pertains to oer-1 tain improvements in covers for igniting, material of railway signal fuses.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1, is a side elevation of a torch showing my improved cover applied thereto in section. Fig. 2, is a similar view showingi a modified construction of plu for the outer end of the cover. Fig. 3, is a detached perspective view showing a preferred form of my improved l auxiliary cap. Fig. 4, is a detached pers ective view of the plug illustrated in Fig. 1. h ig. 5, is a similar view of the plug illustrated in Fig. 2. l

The usual form of torch 1 is used, which has at its upper end the usual igniting meml her 2. Applied to the igniting end of the torch 1 is a tubular cover 3 which serves to .cover and protect the igniting member or material 2 of the torch. Thus far, I have I described the usual construction of torch and cover for the exposed igniting member thereof.

I will now refer to the features which con- 'stitute my present invention. I I

In carrying out my present improvement, the plug 4, which closes the outer end of the tubular cover 3, is provided with a suitable shoulder 5. In Fig. 1 this shoulder 5 is provided by extending the plug outward, into an" annular flange as shown in Fig. 4, the annular flange extending beyond. the periphery of the tubular cover 3. In Fig. 2, the annular shoulder 5 is provided by forming a groove 6 in the plug, the plug being of substantially the same diameter as the exl ternal diameter of the tubular cover 3.

My improved auxiliary cap is constructed to co-act with the plug 4, so that when displacement, for the laced in position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it is held there against accidental removal or purpose of protecting the complementary igniting materlal 7 which icon the outer end of the plug 4, and is 1 .either a .s

adapted taco-act with the igniting member or material-2 of the torch proper, in a manwell understood by those skilled in the art, and does'not need further description herein.

As shown, the auxiliary ca 8 and the plug 4 are constructed to interlbck with each other, and this may be'accomplished in many ways. The preferred form is that here shown, and it consists, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, in providin the cup-shaped auxiliary cap 8 with depen ing ears or projections 8, which are adapted to be bent inward under the shoulder 5 of the plug 4, and thus will hold it in position.

The ca 8 is preferablyformedof metal, and usua ly tin, being made from scrap tin preferably, for the purpose of eheapness in construction. I I am aware that metal caps for'hermetically sealing bottles of a construction somewhat similar to the protecting cap herein shown, have-been used. These difler essentially from my invention, in that the sealing caps for bottles are tightly clamped in position, and must be so to efiect the sealing thereof, and that because of this tight clamping of the sealing cap, it is necessary in some forms to use a specially constructed tool in order to remove the sealing cap, or to construct the sealing cap in such a way that it can be broken away, which, however, is not practical to do with the fingers, because they are so tightly clamped in order to accomplish their function. My ca is a quick-removing cap, which is not ti itly, clamped in position, so as to require eit er a special tool or a breaking away of the holding ears. To the contrary, the ears are only loosely bent inward sufliciently to hold the protecting cap by friction, and which can-be quickly removed by an endwise ull upon the cap. The tightly clampedsea ing caps for bottles would absolutely defeat the object of applicants invention. The object is to merely protect the igniting'material in such a way that it can be quickly and readily exposed for use in emergencies, without, requiring ecial tool, or the equally tedious method 0 segre ating the parts of the cap. To facilitate the application of the auxiliary 'cap to the end of the plug, the latter is preferably provided with an inclined annular -surface 9 which enables the cap to be forced thereon, even should the ears of the cap be bent slightly inward.

While I have here shown a specific and pre ferred form of the auxiliary protecting cap or cover, and of the plug 4, whereby the two interlock,1 desire it to be understood that ve riations in the precise manner here shown may be made, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An improved cover for fuses comprising a tubular member, a plug losing one end thereseen??? 

